A moment after stepping into the light, Colin appeared next to Rielle on the roof of the Dark Horse Hotel. The midday sun was a stark contrast to the magical white light they had been fighting in only a few short minutes ago. Seconds passed, and Larry appeared next to him with Paladin next to the human-looking Incubus. Both blinked in the bright daylight and took a moment to orient themselves to their new location.

After Paladin had appeared, Colin had a prompt appear before him.

Normally, the ones who have defeated a non-permanent Boss would receive recognition from the system and have their names spread across the people. Given your Class of Antagonist and Demon Lord Candidate Title, the choice to lightly tailor the message has been given to you. If you do not make a choice within the next minute, The system will enact its default settings.

Thinking over this choice for a moment, Colin nodded to himself. He wanted people to know what he’d done; he wanted people to know that he’d been the one to defeat ALAN. This thought went against instincts that he’d had in the real world; anonymity had been something that had aided him. It was apparent to him where this line of thinking was coming from. Being the Antagonist of Pride and something about the system affecting his thoughts was likely tinting his priorities.

But did that matter? If he could control this prideful instinct, the influence of his Sin Path, then was it wrong to feel this?

To that end, Colin smiled and considered his advancement. And with that in mind, he asked the prompt a single question, which it answered.

Here is the original prompt. “All of Rosengard, bear witness to these words of triumph! The Golem Overmind known as ALAN has been defeated before its victory in the city of BriarThorn, thus preventing the city from becoming a Monster Fortress. This could not have been possible without the help of many people, Outworlders and Inworlders alike. But there are four in particular that defeated the Boss, who the world recognizes as the victors!

DevilWalker! ContraryPaladin! Darielle! And Larrimortias LeGrelle, Familiar to DevilWalker! Let their names be known in service to the city and the world at large!”

This message pleased him. It had a good amount of celebration to it, and it named him directly for a deed that was true, so it wasn’t like he was lying. But there was something that he wanted to do here. Colin looked over the message and nodded to himself as he slightly altered the message and told the system that this was what he wanted to send out.

A prompt appeared a moment later.

Prompt accepted. Sending out message now.

All of Rosengard, bear witness to these words of triumph! The Golem Overmind known as ALAN has been defeated before its victory in the city of BriarThorn, thus preventing the city from becoming a Monster Fortress. This could not have been possible without the help of many people, Outworlders and Inworlders alike. But there are four in particular that defeated the Boss, who the world recognizes as the victors!

DevilWalker! ContraryPaladin! Darielle the Death Fey! And Larrimortias LeGrelle, Familiar to DevilWalker! Let their names be known as heroes of the city and the world at large!

Warzone Conditions in the city of BriarThorn are now removed, and the entire city has returned to a Safe Zone.

The change was subtle, but he thought that putting the word hero in the message gave a better impression. Not to mention that it made them seem less like a city worker and more like a victorious citizen.

“Wow,” Rielle said, reading the prompt.

“That was awesome!” Larry said, looking at a grinning Paladin. The Sumo had a hand raised up and open for a high five.

When the Demon slapped it, Paladin looked at Colin and said, “that was the most fun I’ve had since I started coming to Rosengard.”

“Really?” Colin asked. “What else have you been doing?”

The large man shrugged, “you know, the standard stuff mostly. I fought through a few dungeons near the Sandalwood Basin, helped defeat a Field Boss called a Rail Cobra, assisted some people with roaming monsters. You know, the usual. Being part of this has been fantastic, Walker. I love exploring lore,” Paladin said with a large smile.

Word of your great deed helps to inflate your Pride. You gain 1 PP. Word of your great deed helps to inflate your Pride. You gain 1 PP. Word of your great deed helps to inflate your Pride. You gain 1 PP.

After the fifth one, Colin accessed the settings and altered which prompts he saw. He definitely would rather look at it in an hour and see how many Pride Points he got. It was an essential part of his Class, and he wanted to take advantage. Soon he’d have many more things to buy in his Hubris Menu. At least, until a moment later and the next part triggered.

Congratulations, Antagonist of Pride! For good or ill, your many deeds have spread amongst the populace, and your name is known to many. Due to a sudden windfall of Pride Points and Fame, your nature as the Antagonist of Pride has ascended further. The Ability Hubris has been altered and strengthened.

Hubris Ability. Your strength of Will and the height of your Ego has allowed you to break down conventional walls and boundaries in the system. Allowing you to learn any skill, Ability, spell, and work creatively to gain access to these things. Now, all base classes have been unlocked in your Hubris Menu without any of the abilities, but now more than that height has been increased. As long as you meet the criteria, you can now learn skills and abilities from the Specialized Class of Players you kill.

Note: the only criteria besides class you can ignore is anything that requires you to be at least level thirty or higher. After you reach level thirty, this restriction will be observed.

“Holy Shit,” Colin breathed, rereading the prompt. All three of them looked at him, and he just saved himself the trouble of reading it out loud and just showed them the prompt.

Paladin whistled, Rielle gasped, and Larry laughed out loud at everyone that Colin would get with this Ability.

Even Nox stepped out of his shadow to look at the Prompt directly. “DevilWalker, I would suggest you show no one else this Ability. I can see people taking action against you to keep you from reaching your potential with this. This is literally game-changing.”

Colin nodded in agreement; from his interactions with Paladin, the only above level 30 player he’d been with, those skills were powerful. The Sumo’s Fat Armor Skill reduced the damage he took from certain weapons or negated it all together. He’d heard of other Specialized Classes with signature techniques, special skills, and even groups of classes that followed tropes. The few he’d heard of already made his mind work with the possibilities, but that was for later.

Before he could take a few days to relax, prepare, and move on with his plans, he had a few more things to do.

Waving his hands towards the stairwell that led down, Colin led them off the roof overlooking the city. While he walked, he opened up his Attributes and considered where he wanted them. He could continue to place the free Attributes points in a way that was, overall, reasonably balanced. Or he could put all ten Attribute Points in a single field and let them invigorate one aspect of his person.

After spending a few floors thinking, Larry and Paladin chatting away, Colin shrugged and decided to sit on the points. It was not like there was a time limit on spending them, and he could save them for later. Who knows, maybe not all the Golems were destroyed with ALAN’s defeat.

Instead, he skipped his new ability choice; the note from Baal had requested that he wait until after they talked, so he moved on. Remembering the special item for completing the Event. With a thought, he brought the Loot Box into reality; the perfect square wrapped in brown paper weighed heavily in his arms.

Tucking it under his arm, they walked for one more floor until they reached his room and unlocked it. He held the door open for everyone and relocked it once he was inside as well.

“So… is that the final event reward?” Paladin asked.

“Yeah, what do you think it is?” Colin asked, setting it down on his bed and holding himself back from just tearing it open.

“Could be anything, really. It likely has something to do with the Event and will be either powerful, useful, or extremely valuable,” Paladin shrugged.

Nodding at the answer, Colin tore the paper off the box and then tore the box open with force. It was no more complex than ripping through a tough cardboard box, and inside was another, smaller box. This one was dull gray and inlaid with silver and bronze runes; five crystals were placed inside the expensive box’s lid. One was blue, green, red, yellow, and clear; all were charged with faint magic.

He pulled the new box free from the remains of the cardboard and looked it over, finding the lid latched but not locked, shut. A handful of the runes on the outside of the box looked familiar, many of them were in the few rituals he’d performed, but he had no idea what purpose they served.

“Nox, think it’s safe?” Colin asked the room.

“It likely is. The contents may be cursed, but that would be the extent of the danger,” Nox answered. “I would not worry, DevilWalker. If it is, I will tell you before you touch it.”

Nodding, Colin pulled up the latch and opened the box.

Inside was a key, and it was gold and reflected the light as Colin lifted it. Turning it over in his hands, he found something carved into the side of the Key and read it out loud, “In Raziel’s Grace, may this be forever sealed.”

Shrugging, Colin Appraised the Key.

Key of *Redacted by Raziel*. Item weight: 67 grams. Item Quality: *Redacted by Raziel*.

A key forged by Raziel, Archangel and keeper of Secrets, to lock away a location on Rosengard in a physical and spatial sense. Stolen from the Lesser Archangel’s Vault years ago, this Key was lost after the one who took it died in their attempt to flee. No one knew where this item went and-

Unfortunately, due to Raziel’s interference, more information on this item and the location it unlocks has been sealed away. However, a being of authority, either Infernal or Celestial, may garner more information when they walk further down their path.

“Huh, interesting,” Colin said, putting the key back in the box and closing it.

“So?” Paladin asked excitedly. “Where does it go?”

Colin shrugged, “No idea. The description has some information redacted by an Archangel named Raziel.”

“An Archangel?” Paladin said, a grin tugging at his face. “That is so cool! Can I see it?”

Handing the back to Paladin, Colin said, “sure, just make it quick. I don’t want to find out why it was in that box, okay?”

Paladin took the Key, turning to look at the gold item in a different light. Nox appeared on his shoulder and looked at the Key in his hand, “I’ve seen things redacted once or twice before. Both times it was redacted by something Infernal, not Celestial. I wonder what one of the Hosts would lock up here on Rosengard?”

A moment passed, and Colin felt something in his chest tighten. It was almost like pressure was squeezing at his heart and making him feel… something. What he felt was something spiritual and physical, like it was squeezing his soul. It took a moment to orient himself towards the source of the sensation, having never felt this at all up till now. Looking back at Paladin, he had an idea why the Key was in a rune-covered box.

“Paladin, put the key back and close it!” Colin yelled.

The Sumo reacted quickly, practically dropping the Key into the box and slamming it shut. “What? Why?”

Several seconds passed before the sensation eased, the pressure flowing away and easing into the normalcy from a minute earlier. The Antagonist took in one long breath, held it for a second, then released it as a heavy sigh. Colin looked at Larry and found that the Demon was worse off than he was, sweat and blood coming off his face.

“Angels… can probably sense the energy that this thing gives off. I could feel it after it was out of the case for long enough, and it did not agree with me,” he answered Paladin. “How’re you doing, Larry?”

The Demon looked at Colin and gave him a shaky thumbs-up before falling back onto his rear and smiling in relief.

“Alright, next thing I have to do,” Colin said to himself, trailing off as he thought. Accessing two of his Abilities at once, he used Infernal Advisor to bring the circle he needed to the forefront of his mind. Then Heretic Scribe to burn the magic circle into the floor next to his bed.

But the magic didn’t burn or damage anything. To his surprise, the circle created a line of infernal light along the floor for the ritual to work, appearing like fluorescent paint. Maybe the Heretic Scribe Ability didn’t HAVE to cut or burn into everything. It might depend on the ritual, or the intent, or even on the material, who knows. Colin would have to fiddle with this later.

Willing a hundred and fifty mana into the circle, Colin waited a moment for something to happen and was not surprised when a woman appeared. If his memory was correct, it was the same woman as before, the one who appeared instead of Baal. She had dark skin, platinum blonde hair, and a feminine cut pantsuit. She stood around half a foot taller than Colin, excluding the small elk-like horns. A thin barbed tail moved slightly as she stepped into sight from thin air within the circle.

“Miss Hautley, if I remember correctly?” Colin asked rhetorically. “No Baal again?”

“No, he asked me to keep you busy for a moment while he got prepared. Being Steward of an entire plane of existence is a non-stop job. He asked me to promise you that he’ll be here in a minute or three,” she responded, her tone professionally blank.

Larry was staring at Hautley and grinning widely, “Cousin!”

“Larrimortias,” she responded, a little more warmth going into her tone. “Doing well with the Demon Lord Candidate, I see?”

“I am,” Larry said, stepping up next to Colin. “How’s everything down there?”

She shrugged, “not too bad. Baal is working me and the rest of his staff to the bone; luckily, I like keeping busy. Alexander, you remember her, snapped under the pressure and went up there somewhere for a… mandatory vacation.”

“Goody,” Larry breathed out. “Do you know where she came up?”

Hautley shook her head, “no, she hasn’t spoken to me more than necessary since I was promoted to Lord Baal’s Head secretary. Oh, have you heard? Bogrittiah managed to pair up with one of the Archdemons?” The Succubus Secretary was smiling.

“Really, which one?” Larry asked carefully.

“Beelzebub,” Hautley replied, the smile now showing teeth.

“No way,” Larry beamed. “That Ladder Climbing Bitch landed the Lord of Flies. Oh, drown the heavens in blood and piss; that is way more than she deserves. How’d she take it?”

“Not well. She locked herself away for a week before coming out in a huff when the time came for her to move in with him. She wanted to work with a powerful Demon, now she helps him run one of the Circles. It’s fantastic!” Hautley laughed.

“If you are done spreading gossip about your family, may I cut in, Miss Hautley?” A cultured, almost British voice asked from beyond the magic circle.

Then Baal stepped behind her, his eight to nine feet of height easily making Hautley look short. He looked the same as the last time he’d encountered the Steward of the Hells. Six horns formed a crown about his head, poking out of his black hair, pale eyes, and sharp features that contrasted nicely with his deep crimson skin. Instead of a suit, he wore a regal set of black robes with gold lining that let his features pop from within the robe.

Immediately, Larry fell to his knees, prostrating himself before the Steward, and his eyes cast down.

Paladin and Rielle simply watched in shock at the sudden appearance of the Ruler of Hell. In terms of power, this entity could probably be a massive World Boss that only Heroes of The Hero could defeat. Colin was only glad that this was a projection of the being. He’d felt some measure of his power when Baal and the Goddess Anaheim met in that Cosmic Space; he did not want to face that in open combat.

“You done? Good, please see if Missus Watson has filed everything correctly this time. If she didn’t, feel free to feed her to Cerberus. This filing foul-up could lead to the first circle going to war with the fourth,” Baal told Hautley, her face already back to business neutral.

“Yes, M’lord,” she responded, stepping out from the circle and presumably back to work.

“My apologies, Demon Lord Candidate, for the delay in our talk. Normally, you could summon your Infernal Advisor as often as you’d like for wisdom, but my role in Hell makes that difficult. I ask for your understanding, DevilWalker, Demon Lord Candidate of Pride. So if you don’t mind, I need to get right to the main points. Satan is trying to create a foothold in Leviathan’s territory, and I need to get back in about…” he paused, a screen that looked blank to Colin appearing off to his side. “Five minutes, most. Three would be preferable. May I start with that message I sent you after you defeated ALAN?”

Colin had his own questions to ask, a lot of them, in fact. But he nodded, believing the ArchDemon when he said he didn’t have time. Something about his appearance looked like he was worn down and exhausted. “Alright, go for it.”

“In your new Class Improvement List choices, there is one I’d highly recommend that you take and employ. It is a Ritual Magic Subskill called Chimerology, and it is unique to Antagonists of Pride. In the coming months, if my Algorithms are accurate, you will start to face many challenges, and I think it will be useful if given a chance. I’d also recommend looking into a second Ritual called ‘Miniaturize’ that should be within your skill range. Do the research; you should find it,” Baal finished.

“So, to sum it all up. You are suggesting that I take a new Ritual Magic Subskill called Chimerology instead of anything else?” Colin clarified.

“Oh yes, I am,” Baal nodded.

“Okay, great, Can I ask my questions now?” Colin asked in a hurry. Instead of waiting, he plowed through. “When the One God Above All Others trapped me in this world, it told me of the other way out of here for me. It said there was a door without a handle but four locks. What can you tell me about it?”

“I can,” Baal answered. “But it is a bit lengthy. Would you like to hear it now, or can I give you the basic information you need so you can hear it uninterrupted later?”

“Now,” Colin responded immediately.

The large ArchDemon coughed once to clear his throat before starting. “So, a long time ago, when this world was first created, most of the races were lost and angry. Wars broke out, the Eldritch was released, and a few races were lost. One that tragically destroyed most of their own genome was the Elder Gnomes. Modern Gnomes are scrambling at their ancestors’ ruins, trying to find out what they built and understand it. Are you following?”

“Yes,” Colin answered, folding his arms and waiting for the Archdevil to continue. Larry remained on his knee, bowing to the Steward, while Rielle simply stood off to the side, paying attention but trying not to be noticed. The Sumo did the complete opposite, he was standing off to the side of Colin, but he was watching with rapt amazement.

“These Elder Gnomes created many wonders that were both Magical and Scientific in nature. One of their greatest wonders is an archway that many of them spent and then paid their lives to research and create. Unfortunately, it was never completed. It needed four crystals from the heart of the four great Outer Planes to trigger,” Baal explained, pulling up a screen and taking a few seconds to read the thing before nodding.

Returning his attention to Colin, he continued, “First, there is Utopia, home of the Angels. The Inferno, home of Demonkind. The Lunarlands, the original home of the Fey. And lastly, there is Limbo, the Realm of the Twisted Chaos.” Baal paused for a moment to think. “If it was just a matter of giving you the Inferno’s version of whatever these crystals are, I would do it. But I will admit that I’m not sure how to cultivate such a thing.”

Colin gritted his teeth, “of course, you don’t know. Where can I learn such a thing?” he asked, trying his best to remain calm. He was taking a step forward with just knowing this, but that didn’t mean he was any closer. Create four keys from the heart of the four great realms? This was ridiculous. Why couldn’t he just go home?

Baal sighed, “unfortunately, I do not know exactly where. What I can tell you is where the gateway they created is; maybe you’ll find something there?”

Colin mused about that for a moment before nodding, “where is it?”

“In the far north, there is a region that most go out of their way to avoid called The Silent Plateau. Most go out of their way to avoid the region due to some lingering remnants of the first Demon Lord. Ethanol, Demon Lord of Apathy, made that region the location where he did his work and prepared for the battle where the Hero of his time killed him,” Baal explained. “Most Demon Lords created a vault where they locked away and stored things of value to them, either for battle or personal. The only one that I cannot say with the utmost certainty that made a vault was the fourth Demon Lord, Ari,” Baal finished.

“So somewhere in a place called The Silent Plateau, there is both an ancient archway that is the door that I was told about AND the First Demon Lord’s stash of goods?” Colin confirmed. When the ArchDevil nodded, Colin asked, “Why hasn’t it been raided yet?”

The ArchDevil gave Colin a grin that showed off his pointed teeth, “that would be due to the Slime Monarchs that live there. Where there is a Slime Monarch….”

“There will be a hundred of its lesser children,” Rielle finished, clapping her hand over her mouth and looking like she wished she could get smaller and hide.

“Correct,” Baal said, pointing at her before looking back at Colin. “If you don’t know what a Slime Monarch is, having been an Outworlder, I would suggest you look more into Ethanol’s stories. He took a shine to the creatures.”

Colin nodded, “Okay, so, my next question simply has to do with you. This will be a little rude but indulge me. Why are you my Infernal Advisor instead of Lucifer?”

“Making a long history lesson short, the Lord and King of the Inferno and Demon kind is locked and sealed away in a place known as The Pit. It is located in the ninth circle, the most dangerous section in the nine hells, and is protected by powers that transcend even mine,” Baal admitted. “We all hope to see him free one day to take his proper place on the Throne of Hell. May the Morning Star rise once again.”

“May the Morning Star rise!” Larry recited, his tone almost prayer-like.

“Great, so next I was hoping to have you explain to me what-” Colin started, but Baal raised his hand to stall him.

The Archdevil pulled up another screen that looked blank from Colin’s perspective, and he grumbled in annoyance. “It appears that my time is up. Leviathan is trying to send his armies into Mephistopheles territory while a team of Raphael’s forces are breaching into the Latter’s home. I need to wrap this up, the battle between The Inferno and Paradise is perpetual, and I need to return. I have one last thing to tell you, are you ready?”

Colin nodded, and Baal continued. “You need to kill the other Demon Lord Candidates before the Hero rises. Things are moving in the world, and you need to advance in power and prestige to make sure you can weather it. Do you know who any of them are?” he asked quickly. Four screens popped in front of his vision before he started reading one of them.

“Yes, the Elfin Princess Astra, right?” Colin asked, attempting to get confirmation.

“Correct, I cannot tell you who they are, it is part of the rules, but I can confirm it if you are right. I cannot tell you anything about her powers, however,” Baal explained. “But this is good news, you know where one of the other candidates is, and now you can take the fight to her before you risk her finding out about you. Her or the other two Candidates.”

“Why do I have to? Can’t I just stay out of her way and let her do her thing until the Hero arrives and takes her out?” Colin asked, doubting it would be that easy. In all honesty, he didn’t want to deal with this Demon Lord stuff as much as he wanted to play it out. He’d rather focus on this door stuff than the Demon Lord Candidates.

Baal shook his head, “That answer is more complicated. To shorten the explanation, every Demon Lord Candidate is a mantle of power. There used to be seven of these mantles running around and killing each other to pass the Mantle to the candidate that survives. If a normal person killed them, the Mantle would be split evenly amongst the others. If the Hero kills them, the Mantle of power gets altered and melds with theirs.”

“Meaning that if the Hero kills all the Candidates, there will never be any more Demon Lord Candidates?” Colin checked. “Why does that matter, other than my own death, of course, in the grand scheme of things.”

“There always has to be opposition in all things, checks and balances, choices in all things,” Baal waxed on. “If only good prevailed, then there would be no choice and no freedom for sentient life to choose. Besides, if one side of the spectrum got too strong, something worse may come along. And nobody wants that, right?”

“Besides,” Baal continued a moment later. “We tend to choose our Demon Lord Candidates on merit according to the sin they choose. The Hero gets chosen by the Celestials based on who would be able to beat the Candidates. Which is not the right way to go.”

Colin nodded, “fair.”

“Seriously, now I have to go. Good Luck, DevilWalker. Someone will be in touch soon to discuss your second favor!” And with a snap from Baal, the circle under his feet winked out. The projection of Baal disappeared, and all traces of their conversation was gone.

“Wow,” Paladin said, looking slack-jawed at Colin. He didn’t say anything else for a long moment while Colin opened up his ability choice menu. He wasn’t just going to choose Chimerology, but he did want to see what it did before he discounted it.

I am Me

Requirements: Path of Pride Level 5

your personal identity is strong enough to withstand any outside attempt to influence it. you gain a passive resistance to magic from the enchantment spell school equal to your wisdom attribute. The effect is multiplied by two when you actively and knowing resist an effect.

Unyielding Skill

Requirements: Path of Pride Level 1, Any Skill Level 5

Your pride in your work makes you work easier to succeed and grow. When you take this ability, you choose one skill that you have achieved at least level 5 in. The chosen skill grows 10% faster.

Positive Energy Resistance 1

Requirements: Antagonist Class Level 10, Wisdom 20

Your evil aura acts as a shield against attacks and effects that use their Good Alignment. This ability grants 10% resistance to good aligned abilities

Runic Evil

Requirements: Antagonist Class Level 5, Enchanting Level 1

Your position as Antagonist gives you a unique perspective in regards to your Enchanting skill. This grants you the ability, Runic Evil, granting you knowledge of a set of evil runic enchantments according to your enchanting level.

Sense of Evil

Requirements: Antagonist Class Level 10

This Ability grants allows you to sense psychic resonances of Evil.

Brain shudder

Requirements: Psychic Class Level 10, Mental Magic Manipulation Level 5

Any Mental Magic Spell that you cast has a small chance to Disorient enemies.

Driving Force

Requirements: Antagonist(avenger) Class Level 15

You gain a limited skill that gives you a sense of any being that you are designed against. (The Krimson Spire Guild Members and, to a lesser extent, Players as a whole.)

Infernal Conduit

Requirements: Antagonist Class Level 15, Infernal Magic Manipulation Level 5, Alignment must be (at least) Evil 1

This Ability gives your attacks extra damage against entities that radiate good like how Demon’s radiate Evil.

Telekinesis

Requirements: Kinetic Magic Manipulation Level 5, Mental Magic Manipulation Level 5

This Dual Subskill combines both of its parent skills into the ability to move objects with one’s mind.

Vainglorious Fate

Requirements: Path of Pride Level 15, At least 15 Luck

You are prideful, arrogant, and self-righteous but not without reason. Your Status as one who walks the Path of Pride generates a Karmic magnetism that draws events towards you. These events can be good or bad for you but will always be great in scope. This Ability is greatly affected by the users Luck Attribute.

Ego Blade

Requirements: Path of Pride Level 20

You can channel an amount of your unused Pride Points into your weapon to deal extra Ego Damage. This attack cannot currently stack with other, similar attack skills.

Corrupted Processes

Requirements: Ritual Magic Level 5, Antagonist Class Level 10

When using any ritual, you can add an element of evil to the mix to increase its effectiveness. Rituals using this will have increased effectiveness against Good-Aligned beings, no extra effect against Neutral-Aligned Beings, and depreciated effects against Evil-Aligned Beings. Ordered and Chaotic-Aligned Beings are not affected.

Stress Levels

Requirements: Mental Magic Manipulation Level 10

When you cast Mental Magic on the same opponent over and over, their mind will start to become stressed by the powers you are hitting it with. With this Ability, opponents will now have an invisible (to you and them) Mental Stress Gauge that will determine how much of your power they can take.

A Dread Chorus

Antagonist level 20,Bardic Magic Level 5, Infernal Magic Manipulation, Bleeding Ears Subskill level 3

Magic flows along the musical chords in the air as you play. Unfortunately for your enemies, the tune being played is a dirge from which Demons and Devils do their work. All uses of Bardic magic and all of its subskills that you use Infernal Magic with are more efficient to use and deal more damage.

Chimerology

Requirements: Antagonist of Pride Level 20, Ritual Magic Level 10

Once used to create some of the greatest terrors of the ancient world, Chimerology grants those that can put their will above everything to change nature. This grants you a Ritual that will be engraved upon your soul which will allows you to alter, reshape, and blend creatures into new ones under your control.

Yet again, many of the old ones were definitely good, but he found himself drawn to the one Baal recommended. Chimerology was interesting, to say the least; it would allow him to mix and match monsters for exciting effects. He could imagine his own boss-like creatures going to fight for him while he took on different threats.

A Dread Chorus was interesting, especially since Colin was even more sure to use that skill even more often. But he could pick it up in a few more levels if he was still convinced he wanted it. And Vainglorious Fate was something he wanted when he added some more points to his Luck Attribute. He did not like the idea of his luck moving the world around him without it already being reasonably high.

So, before he could overthink it, Colin accepted Chimerology, and he now read the expanded skill description.

You have gained the Ritual Magic Subskill, Chimerology Level 1. The original Chimera, created by Echidna, was a beast of great and vicious power. With a Lion’s head, a goat’s body, a snake’s tail, and more than triple the size of both, The Chimera was a threat to all but gods and the greatest of Heroes. Now, the legacy of Echidna and Typhon exists in this unique and profane branch of Ritualism.

This Skill grants you access to a unique and growing Ritual System that must be drawn upon your soul before it can be drawn upon the ground. Once done, you can begin. Creatures need not be willing for this ritual to work, but it does need to hold still in its place upon the circle. At level one of this limited Subskill, you can only combine one creature with another. Level this up to increase its potential.

“Okay, this is interesting. I definitely think I can get some use out of this,” Colin thought out loud while thinking about what he wanted to do first. Before doing anything with it, he planned to look up that ‘Miniaturize’ Ritual that Baal mentioned and see if it was worth the time.

For now, though, that was it. Colin would take a short break with the others here, in BriarThorn, if he could help it. There was that promise to Kore that he had to uphold, but that should be able to wait a day or three. Hopefully.

“Dude!” Paladin finally exclaimed. “We’ve beaten a Golem Overmind AND met the Steward of Hell. I’m just so energized right now, Brother! Whooooo!” Paladin cheered with both arms in their air.

Rielle laughed at the energetic Sumo, and Colin couldn’t help it either. The three of them laughed for a few long moments, full of sheer joy for every reason they could think of. They lived, they fought, they won, they grew, they gained power, and they all had an adventure. Even Larry, who wasn’t actively laughing, had a triumphant grin on his crimson face.

“So, what’s next?” The Incubus asked.

“Next? Next, we are going to see if we can round up some food. If we’re lucky, Henrietta and her Restaurant are still working. Sound good?” Colin asked Rielle.

She nodded vigorously, “yes, I want to see how they’re doing. Especially Daphne.”

“Who’s Daphne? She sounds pretty,” Larry asked.

“Yeah, pretty young,” Colin said, turning to face the Incubus. “No eating Daphne.”

“You’re no fun,” he pouted, folding his arms and turning up his nose.

Rolling his eyes, Colin started to tell Paladin how he initially met Henrietta and saved Daphne as they started towards the lobby. Since Rielle was part of that story, he included it for good measure, only pausing when they passed someone on the stairs. Paladin nodded along as he listened, enjoying the story very much and only turning his attention elsewhere when Rielle added in things Colin missed.

“So… you own Rielle?” Paladin asked, his words cautious. They had just stepped off the staircase and started to walk through the lobby; a straight path that led out to the street was visible.

All around them, people were cheering, laughing, and many more were hurrying about as they gathered what they could. Colin suspected that many of them were taking things that belonged to other survivors or the Hotel itself, but that wasn’t his business. Honestly, no matter how his pride wanted him to enjoy the gratitude of others and bask in the adoration, he was just glad none of them knew they were the ones who finished the Event.

“Well, yeah,” Colin said, shrugging. “Not like I’ve done anything with it, and I plan to break the contract as soon as I can so that she can do what she wants. Apparently, Death Fey are considered dangerous.”

“We are,” Rielle told him. “Most of us are.”

Colin paused in his stride, partway to the door. “Really? Using you as a reference, I find that hard to believe. You are literally the nicest person I know.”

She shook her head, “Death Fey are born from the union of a High Fey and a Sentient Planar creature. I need to tell you the story of the Demon Saint. Trust me, it’s not pretty. I’m not saying I like what the High Fey do to Death Fey like me, but… I get it.”

“If you say so,” Colin told her, continuing towards the door and walking out it. “But yeah, we’re going there, to the Skillets of Power, then we are going to eat. Then-” Colin stopped a few paces out the doors of the Hotel, a chill running down his spine.

In the past few days since the Event started, he’d never been actually afraid. He’d been nervous about Rielle’s possible death, Panicked for a few moments here and there, even flustered when he wasn’t sure what to do. But fear wasn’t in Colin’s typical vocabulary.

But right now, he felt something he’d been holding in check since he was a child.

Seconds passed as his hand went down to his Mythic Xiphos by sheer reflex. The action caught Larry’s attention immediately, and his guard immediately went up as well. “What is it, Master? An attack?”

“I don’t know-” he started but was interrupted.

“COLIN!”

Turning towards the sound from the street that led to the now dismantled Dungeon Square, he saw someone.

It was a woman with sun-kissed skin and dyed pale blonde hair cut along her sharp cheekbones, showing off her pointed Elfin ears. She wore furs, patterned with turquoise and black with white along the trim and dark leather boots covered her legs. She carried a short polearm with a hook on one end and a nasty-looking spike on the other in her right hand.

It didn’t seem to matter for an instant if it had been almost three months since he’d seen her; he’d recognize that face anywhere. The ears were new, though.

“McKenna?” he breathed out, eyes tearing up.

Which only blurred the sight of his wife coming at him with the sharp end of her weapon aimed at his chest. Her speed somehow amplified, and eyes blazing red with pure rage.